February's pick for book club was The Kite Runner. I didn't know much about the book but I guess I was judging it by it's cover because I had decided I wasn't going to like it. I put off starting the book until my vacation. I read a couple of other books, took my time. I read the first few chapters, got to an emotionally heartwrenching part and put down the book and told my husband that I refused to finish it no matter what my book club thought! So There!
Then I couldn't sleep that night wondering whatever happened to Hassan and Amir.
The Kite Runner follows the story of Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan, the son of Amir's father's servant. As children in the relatively stable Afghanistan of the early 1970s, the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories of mystical places and powerful warriors until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their relationship forever, and eventually cements their bond in ways neither boy could have ever predicted. Even after Amir and his father flee to America, Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and disloyalty. In part, it is these demons and the sometimes impossible quest for forgiveness that bring him back to his war-torn native land after it comes under Taliban rule.
The book was impossible to put down. The characters, though flawed were completely fascinating. I was surprised when I later found out that the story was not a memoir but a work of fiction.
I learned a lot about Afghanistan and it's people and culture which left me wanting more.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. Even someone like me who was sure this book would not be my cup of tea.
I plan to begin Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns soon.
Our next book club pick is The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.
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